Alex Rojas

Exquisite Selves Digital Zene

A digital Zene created in partnership with students from Mexico to exhibit our collaborative art

“ABOUT THE COLLABORATIONExquisite Selves is an artistic collaboration between students at The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMex) in Toluca, Mexico and students at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada.Students began by forming small groups and creating a list of questions to get to know one another on a deeper level. Once they learned more about each other, they began their collaboration by a taking a photographic self-portrait. They then passed their portrait on virtually. Each student, inspired by what they have learned about one another, began to add to the portrait, creating marks upon each portrait. At the end of several rounds of working on each portrait, the result was a layered work that expresses more to each participants’ inner selves, as seen through the eyes of others, than their mere outer selves.Through the addition of digital layers, students managed to peel back emotional layers: connecting to each other in meaningful, creative ways.Completed during 4 weeks of collaboration, each student was reminded that in a world that can be fractured, disorienting, and full of disconnect, the act of working creatively, opening up to one another, remaining curious about difference and others, magic and light can happen. This collaboration is a testament to this.Meera Margaret Singh(Assistant Professor, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada)Sofia Sienra(Faculty member, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca, Mexico)”